Lexie preschool graduation

Just when I thought that I was all caught up, realize Lex's graduation pics are on the phone.  So hopefully after this post I will be caught up..unless I find more pics to post. 

Lexie absolutely loved going to preschool this year.  If they would let her she would go straight to kindergarten.  She seems so ready to go onto the step.  But yet she has another year of preschool to get under her belt.

Her enthusiasm to go every time was just really cute.  She would ask everything single day if today was the day.  She went Tuesday and Thursday mornings for a couple hours to the same preschool the boys did, ELF School too.  They have an excellent teachers and support staff there.

The theme for the graduation was Out of this World. So they had all the kids in these cute t-shirts that had stars on them. Then each class did the artwork for the decorations.

Lexie and her teacher Mrs. Felrice.  My phone kind of blurred the picture...bummer.  She was a really sweet teacher that did the most fun art projects with the kids.

Lexie in front of the alien creature.  They sang really cute songs that had a space theme.

My computer is acting funny, so maybe when I can get the pictures to cooperate I will post more on here.

Mother's Day

I think that I can finally say that I am caught up on the blog, YAY!!!  Then of course I will fall behind again and take forever to catch up:)  A few weeks ago was Mother's Day!!!  It is a great day to have set aside for mom's and to celebrate all that they have done for us.

I grew up with a wonderful mom, that taught me many valuable things.  Some I have chosen to not really take heed to, like sewing.  I feel that is better left up to people that can actually sew a straight line.  This is a task that sadly even with a sewing machine I lack poorly in.  Other things that she has taught me like canning and food dehydration have been put to use, just a small amount.  I hope that when I can have a huge garden and plenty of fruit's and veggies I can really put it to the test.  I think one of the most important things was to love and rely on the Lord to lift you up when you fall.  It is hard to be away from family during these holidays, but I have an amazing little family right here.

Spencer picked out the breakfast that I got to have in bed that morning.  It was chocolate chip waffles, cause he knows how much his mommy loves chocolate.  We hurried and got ready for church.  One thing that would make it just great is not having to rush to get out the door.  But once we are at church, you feel the spirit creep in.  The program was marvelous, even more so since I did not have to speak this year in sacrament:)

They gave all the women in the ward some Dove chocolate.  Immediately the kids think that they lay claim to having some.  I actually was able to have a nap that afternoon...it was magnificent.  Nate made these yummy ribs for dinner.  They really know how to make me feel special by giving me chocolate and ribs, fabulous!!!

Being a mother is the most magnificent thing.  It is hard when that dream of being a mom is so hard to realize at first.  The first two little ones were harder to come by, than we first had anticipated.  But when I became a mom for the first time with Chan, all those tough times melted away.  I think that these little guys are meant to come down at certain times of your life. 

I think now more than ever motherhood is being attacked and how you choose to do certain things.  Personally I think what happens in the home and how you raise your child is up to you.  It should not matter if you choose to deliver in a hospital, home, or a birthing center.  Or if you choose to breastfeed, formula, or pump.  I think as long as you are doing what's best for you and your child..then do it.  I had a really hard time with this after having Chandler.  Thinking that I had to do what everyone else thought was best for my child.  When the way I chose seemed to work for me and the baby..and guess what it turned out better than I had expected.  Mother's should feel proud to say they are MOTHER'S.  I hope everyone had a great day..you deserved it.

Brookside Gardens

My parents and I on their last day here went to Brookside Gardens.  My kids really like to come here and run all the paths.  They love to see the turtles and fish.  The turtles were not really up on the rocks like they usually are this time.  Lexie really got attached to my dad and always wanted to get her picture taken with him.

Lexie whenever she could would get a picture with grandpa.

Wesley decided that he wanted to run along this trail and found a bridge. Us girls thought it would be fun to get our picture taken on.

They have this great children's garden area.  The kids love this little treehouse and climbing up in to play house.  They kind of got kicked out when a school group came and took over.

This is another part of the garden that the kids like to play in.

We really loved having both sets of grandparents here to visit for a little while.  It is always fun to have them visit and sad when they leave.  Luckily we will see them in a couple of weeks.  When we try our daring drive across the country to Utah.

Chandler's Baptism

Chandler's baptism is a day that I thought was far, far off.  When it came time to plan his baptism it was with great pride and a little denial.  I still remember taking this kid to his first day of nursery and his excitement to be there.  He has been very blessed with great primary teachers to help guide his way.

When I was driving to the church for his big day, I got tears in my eyes thinking of this big step in our sons life.  He was really nervous and did not want anyone to come look at the actual baptism.  Nate the night before practiced with Chandler the process they would go through.  When he interviewed with the Bishop he went in all by himself and supposedly did  a great job.

This kid has a very strong testimony of the gospel.  He really strives to do what he knows is the right thing to do. I have said it before, and I will probably say it a lot more...he is the best one to be the oldest in our family.  The example that he sets for his younger siblings, we could not have asked for a better son. 

We had a great program for his evening.  Bishop Joe Richardson conducted.  We had Anne playing the piano and my mom leading the music.  Julie did a wonderful talk on baptism.  Bob did a great talk on the gift of the holy ghost.  Nate did a fantastic job with the baptism and the confirmation. We had a very uplifting show play while they were changing it was, "the stonecutter".  We had quite a few people come and show support for him.  We could not have asked for a better baptism for him.

    Daddy and Chan before his baptism

         The very proud mommy and her boy

The yummy snack table.  His favorite color is orange, so you can see the plentiful color orange around.

All the MD/VA cousins.  Back: Spencer, Emmett, Mia, Camilla holding Nielson, Gabbie, and Chan.
Front: Garrett, Lexie, Wesley, and Leia.  It was so much fun having cousins that live so close come for this special day.

Our Family outside the church.  Wes had bright red cheeks from running outside a lot.  My poor dad about had a heart attack chasing him all over the place.  He prevented a lot of near accidents with cars.

My parents with Chandler outside of our house after the baptism.  *I wish we would have had Chan pose with his other grandparents too.


We learned a lot of things that we would do the same and some do different.  I think for the first baptism it turned out really well.  We love and our very proud of our Chan Man in his decision to get baptized.

Spencer 6th Birthday

The beginning of this month was our red-headed fireball Spencer's 6th birthday.  I remember thinking when he came out that there must have been a mistake getting a red headed child.  When I have brown and Nate has blond hair.  But I can't see him with any other color of hair, it matches his personality.Even though he insists on having brown hair:) He is our big fireball, Wes is our little one.  I love that he was so excited for his birthday this year.  He got to celebrate it twice.  He got to celebrate it with our little family and then both set of grandparents on the following Saturday.  Here is a pic of our cute 6 year old...

Here are some reasons we love our Spencee...
*His laugh is very contagious
*His need to always talk
*His need to tell jokes that no one but he gets
*His love for his family
*His ability to love all those around him
*His ability to act goofy, but still know what you are talking about
*His love for the gospel
*His never ending energy
*His smile that lights up his whole face
*His creative play
*His love of anything with water
*His ability to play with anyone
*His sensitive side, that not too many people see
* His stubborn personality
We love this kid very much.  Our lives would be very boring without his boundless energy. I had a feeling when he was born, he would be an energetic kid.  From day one he has been a very talkative child.   I hope that he had a great day.

Busch Gardens

The end of last month we went to Busch Gardens with my parents, while they were out here visiting.  We love Busch Gardens as a family.  We have a family tradition of going in May each year.  To celebrate the end of tax season and the boys birthdays.

They have a deal this year where you can buy one day for the same price as the summer season pass.  So we opted to do this and we can go down sometime in the summer.  We love only being a few hours away from a very fun amusement park.

We love the family friendliness of the park and it has rides for every age.  It was great having two extra adults with us this time.  Nate and I actually went on rides together, believe it or not.  I am more of the daredevil and was more willing to go on all the loopy loo rides.

I got Nate to ride my favorite ride the Alpengeist with me and he ended up feeling a little sick afterwards.  The line was great so I ended up going back a second time.  The kids loved the train that goes around the park.  Of course the favorite is Land of the Dragons playhouse and rope bridges.  The kids could stay in that area for areas. And the forest of fun, with the Seseme Street characters.  Wes loved grover's roller coaster.  He kept running back into line, even when it had started pouring.

Nate and Chandler this year got to go on the very wet tire ride.  Chandler convinced Nate into going with him this time.  They went in the middle of the day, instead of last year when I went in the evening.  This time they did not get as soaked.  My dad put in a quarter to squirt them and he ended up getting Nate pretty good with it. 

I accidentally got on the very front row of the Griffin.  I am the third one in from the right hand side in a purple shirt.  I thought that I was getting in the line for single riders and then too late realized it was the front row.  The view going up to the first big drop was really nice.  I had my eyes closed going down, so not sure how the view going down was.  It is a little freaky you get up there and sit overlooking the park for a few seconds and then you make the drop.

This year must have been my brave year, because I tried a newer ride to the park.  It is the mach tower.  Where you are strapped in with your legs dangling and they lift you up really, really high in the air and then drop you straight down for a little while.  Then it is a sudden stop and you go slow the rest of the way down.  I was really surprised that I actually went through with it.  Heights and me are not the best of friends.  Like before the view up was great, you could see for miles away.  The straight fall down for most of it, the eyes were closed.  Maybe next time they will be open for at least part of the fall.

We were able to see Pet Shenanigan's again.  Always a fun show to watch with the kids and small animals.  The weather actually cooperated for the most part during our visit. Friday was our long day where we were there basically from opening to closing time.  The kids and adults were worn out by the end of the day.

Saturday we were only planning on staying half a day and then going back to the condo to swim in their indoor pool.  About the time that were ready to leave, it started to downpour.  By the time we got to our car we were pretty soaked.  But the kids did not care one bit.  As always the kids had a lot of fun swimming.  I think Wesley wore everyone out between the two days of chasing after him at Busch Gardens.

 

                                       *right here

Jamestown

I am slowly, but certainly getting caught up on my blog.  The day after Chan's birthday two weeks ago my parents flew in to spend two weeks on the east coast.  They stayed with us that night and then we woke up early the next morning and drove to Williamsburg.

We love going down to Williamsburg every year between Chan and Spence's birthday to celebrate.  It is a celebration that we made it through another tax season with Nate working long hours and weeks.  And the birthdays of two of our handsome boys.

This year we were lucky enough to get to spend it with my parents.  The kids were soooo excited for them to be coming into town.  We spent the first day at Jamestown.  It is amazing that we could spend a whole day just dedicated to this, but you can.

We lucked out and that week was free National Park week, so any national park you got into for free.  Those that have never been down there it is split between a national park and part is owned privately.  The Jamestowne Settlement is owned privately and is kind of pricey for all of us to get into, but we braved the cost and did it.

We started with the National Park side of it first.  They have glass blowing..that the kids absolutely love.  They could sit and watch them do this process for an hour.  I love that they dress is time period clothing, so you feel like you are there.  Then we ate lunch really quick in the car.  We stopped in the visitor center and went through the museum really quickly.  Anyone who knows Wes, knows that you have to move through things really fast.

They have a great outside exhibit of parts of different homes, a church, foundation of buildings, and statues of some pretty important people during that period.  My kids loved the Pocahontas statue and liked holding her hand.

They have a newer museum that you walk on a clear floor, to see the original footings of the building that was there before.  I was chasing Wes most of the time, so what I could see of the museum it was fun.  They had a skeleton that they found while digging.  They had a diagram of where they found him, how they think he died and that maybe there was a lady also buried with him.

Wesley's favorite part was watching the bug huge ferry carrying the cars across the James river.  That river is so big, that the kids kept insisting it was a lake or ocean.  They said that rivers were a lot smaller and that you can cross them easier.  I love that my kids are interested in history.

We then went to Jamestowne Settlement, and it was definitely worth the money going there.  They have three ships that you can go through and they give you a little information on the boat.  Some of the stories were really interesting and I learn something each time we go through them.  The kids were able to steer one and work the bilge pump. 

They have a little settlement set up with some stores that they might have had and a church.  They even had a real garden with things that the settlers might have grown.  Again the people were dressed in period clothing and in each house or building they talked about what happened in that building.  Inside the museum they had a few videos on the crossing of the early settlers and the trials that they had to go through.

The kids loved running through the museum and looking into the houses and boats they had set up inside.  I think we really wore my parents out, with all the walking that we did.  They were so gracious that they got a condo for all of us.  It was nice to come back to every night after the long days we put in.

Chandler's 8th birthday

I can not believe how quickly time has flown by these last 8 years.  I still remember going to the hospital anxious to be a mom for the first time.  After 36 hours of being hooked up to monitors and pitocin he finally made an entrance.  I fell in love with my little blue eyed boy the moment I saw him.  I could not have asked to a mom to a better kid.

I have decided just to list why I love this kid so much:
* he has a strong testimony of the gospel.
*his yearning to learn new things.
*his great example to his younger siblings.
*his love for anything dealing with art.
*his love for his family.
*his protective nature.
*his need to have everything in his room orderly
*his need to please his teachers at school and church
*his love of dancing with his siblings.
*his way of loving those around him
*his determination to overcome obstacles.
*his patience with Wesley
*his great imagination
It is amazing how children come down in the order that they are needed. He was definitely the best one to send down to earth first in our family.

For his birthday he wanted a simple breakfast, which I love. His favorite is toast, yogurt, and strawberries. He wanted chicken and rice for dinner, which is so easy. Instead of me making a cake he wanted to go to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream cones. That night was a little chilly for ice cream, since there really is no seating inside. But we all survived and ate our yummy ice cream freezing outside.

This coming Sunday he is choosing to be baptized and I could not be more proud. He was a little nervous to meet with the Bishop alone, but he did it. He is very excited to take this important step. We love our Chan Man very much!!!!